On the eve of World War II, Lanny Budd reenters the deadly snake pit of Nazi Germany as a presidential spy An American art expert raised in a world of European wealth and privilege, Lanny Budd is dedicated to his socialist ideals and to combatting the twin scourges of Nazism and Fascism. In 1937, a chance encounter in New York with Professor Charles Alston-his boss at the Paris Peace Conference and now one of President Roosevelt's top advisors-provides Lanny with the opportunity to make a profound difference. Appointed Presidential Agent 103, the international art dealer embarks on a secret assignment that takes him back into the Third Reich as the Allied powers prepare to cede Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler in a futile attempt to avoid war. But Lanny's motivations are not just political: The woman he loves has fallen into the brutal hands of the Gestapo, and Lanny will risk everything to save her. Presidential Agent is the action-packed fifth installment of Upton Sinclair's Pulitzer Prize–winning series that brings the first half of the twentieth century to dramatic life. An astonishing mix of history, adventure, and romance, the Lanny Budd Novels are a testament to the breathtaking scope of the author's vision and his singular talents as a storyteller.
"When people ask me what has happened in my long lifetime, I do not refer them to the newspaper files and to the authorities, but to [Upton Sinclair's] novels."
Time
"These historical novels engulfed me in the thrilling and terrible imperatives of history. . . . Sinclair's historical acumen and his calculations about powerful institutions-government, press, corporations, oil cartels and lobbyists-remain remarkably shrewd and often prescient."
The New York Times
"Few works of fiction are more fun to read; fewer still make history half as clear, or as human."
